Category Archives: UK

Muslim graves attacked by vandals

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gravestones in the Muslim section of a Bradford cemetery have been attacked and damaged by vandals. Police have appealed for information and witnesses after vandals knocked over headstones at the Bowling Cemetery in Rooley Lane, Brierley.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said officers and council park rangers were now patrolling the area in an effort to deter further attacks. House to house inquiries have also been carried out in the area.

Insp Suzanne Akeroyd said: “This type of damage causes great distress to surviving family members, and so we are working closely with Bradford Council to catch the culprits and prevent any further damage.”

BBC News, 30 November 2006

Update:  See “Fury as vandals target Muslim graves”, Northern Echo, 1 December 2006

Council mosque decision ‘flawed’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A council which refused to sell land for a new mosque has been criticised for its handling of the case. Ribble Valley Borough Council provoked anger when it refused the application in Clitheroe, Lancashire, in 2004. Local Government Ombudsman Anne Seex investigated a claim that the decision was taken in response to racially motivated opposition in the area.

An application was made to buy some council-owned land for a mosque in September 2004, but was met with opposition. The British National Party was active in the area and two Muslim men were racially abused by members of the public at a council meeting on the issue. Lancashire Police apologised after its officers failed to intervene and paid £5,000 to the town’s Medina Islamic Education Centre, which the men represented.

The council deferred a decision until it had received a report on the impact of the proposal on the “social well-being” of local residents. But the planning committee decided to use the entire site for elderly people’s accommodation – even though the district valuer said the authority would make more money through the mosque plan.

Mrs Seex criticised the council for not following accepted good practice and reaching a decision that was not supported by the information the committee was supplied with.

BBC News, 30 November 2006

Babar Ahmad loses High Court appeal against extradition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ashfaq AhmadTwo terrorist suspects today lost their high court battle to avoid extradition to the United States.

Lawyers for Haroon Rashid Aswat and Babar Ahmad argued that, despite US assurances to the contrary, there was “a real risk” that the men would be mistreated, or tried and sentenced as enemy combatants if sent to America.

Dismissing their appeal, Lord Justice Laws, sitting in London with Mr Justice Walker, said the allegation that the US might violate undertakings given to the UK “would require proof of a quality entirely lacking here”.

The judges said they would take time to consider whether both men should be given permission to take their case to the House of Lords, the highest court in the UK, for a final ruling. They will announce their decision at a later date.

Guardian, 30 November 2006

The Islamic Human Rights Commission has stated: “The decision highlights the manifest injustice of the Extradition Treaty whereby innocent British citizens can be extradited to the US on the flimsiest of evidence. To date, not a shred of evidence has been produced against these men which would warrant charges being brought against them in the UK. In light of claims of the highest level of intelligence-sharing, IHRC finds it puzzling why evidence against the men, if it does exist, has not been passed on to British authorities in order to charge them in Britain.”

IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh said: “Since Britain has some of the most comprehensive terrorism laws in the world, if there is any evidence against these men, they should be charged and tried in a British court. Without any evidence being produced, innocent British citizens will be subjected to an American criminal justice system which has done away with due process and legitimized torture in its ‘war on terror’.”

IHRC press release, 30 November 2006

‘Muslim law reaches Britain’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim Law is HereSecret courts imposing draconian Islamic justice are operating across Britain.

Last night politicians and religious leaders expressed outrage that sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in our society. The hardline Islamic law allows people to be stoned to death, beheaded or have their limbs amputated.

Critics insisted Labour was allowing a chaotic two-tier legal system to flourish in the name of political correctness. And legal experts warned that it meant the authority of British justice was being undermined.

Sharia law dates back to the 10th century. In some countries women are stoned to death for adultery or giving birth out of wedlock and thieves can have both arms amputated. In Saudi Arabia, murderers, rapists and drug traffickers are publicly beheaded with a sword. The Islamic law also deals in all aspects of daily life including marriage and divorce.

Yesterday experts insisted the Government had already allowed elements of sharia law to be introduced. The Treasury has brought in measures including interest-free loans and mortgages which comply with the Islamic law. But it was also alleged unofficial criminal courts are meting out their own justice.

The scandal was outlined on BBC Radio 4’s Law in Action programme which uncovered evidence that Muslims are using their own laws here.

Daily Express, 30 November 2006

For Osama Saeed’s comments, see Rolled Up Trousers, 30 November 2006

Residents use pig races to deter building of mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

There’s an awful lot of exciting news when you round the corner on Baker Road. One of two big yellow signs announces a new neighbor is coming soon. K.I.A., that’s the Katy Islamic Association, plan to build a mosque here. Craig Baker owns pigs. He’s the guy behind the second big yellow sign on Baker Road. That’s the one announcing Friday night pig races.

But aren’t pigs on the property line racing on a Friday night a little offensive to a Muslim neighbor? “The meat of a pig is prohibited in the religion of Islam,” said Katy Islamic Association member Youssof Allam. “It’s looked upon as a dirty creature.” Yeah, there’s that and also that Friday night is a Muslim holy day. “That is definitely a slap in the face,” said Allam.

abc13.com, 29 November 2006

UK Muslim leaders support grand mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

British Muslim leaders have expressed their full support for plans to build a grand mosque beside the Olympic Park in East London.

IslamOnline, 27 November 2006

Mad Mel, on the other hand, takes heart from reports that “Muslims themselves have now spoken out against the proposal and warned that the mosque will be a site for Islamist extremism”.

Melanie Phillips’s Diary, 28 November 2006

Sharia law is spreading, Telegraph warns

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The full headline in the print edition of the Torygraph reads “Sharia law is spreading as the authority of British justice wanes”. The article, by Joshua Rozenberg (Mr Melanie Phillips), reports on the findings of the BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action on the role of unofficial religious courts, which arbitrate over civil issues.

Not that you’d know it from the Torygraph report, but the programme also dealt with the role of Beth Din courts in the Jewish community (see here). Can you imagine what Melanie Phillips’ response would be if the paper ran a story with the headline “Jewish law is spreading as the authority of British justice wanes”?

Daily Telegraph, 29 November 2006

More media scaremongering over the ‘mega-mosque’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Abbey Mills Islamic Centre (2)Another day, another scaremongering “mega-mosque” article, this one from the freesheet thelondonpaper.

The latest twist, of course, is to claim that there is mass opposition from Muslims to Tablighi Jamaat building an Islamic centre at Abbey Mills.

Haras Rafiq, who was involved in organising the petition against the proposed Abbey Mills markaz, is quoted as saying: “Muslims in the area are concerned their children will become involved in an extremist ideology. People will come from around the world to try to get more people involved with Tablighi Jamaat. It is ridiculous that that they are looking for Government funding for this – it should be totally out of the question. This organisation is dangerous.”

Yes, that’s undoubtedly the same Haras Rafiq who was responsible for forming the fraudulent, unrepresentative, New-Labour-loving, neocon-promoting, so-called Sufi Muslim Council.

And what is a businessman from Rochdale doing organising a campaign in West Ham, you might ask? Well, bear in mind that Haras Rafiq launched the SMC on the back of an anti-MCB witch-hunting TV documentary by the appalling Martin Bright, and that he echoed the right-wing press by accusing representative Muslim organisations like the MCB of not doing enough to combat terrorism. This is a man whose speciality is to align himself with the worst sections of the Islamophobic media in denouncing his co-religionists.

So at least we now have a clearer picture of the forces behind the “Muslim campaign” against the Abbey Mills Islamic centre. They’re the Sufi Muslim Council, Stephen Schwartz’s Center for Islamic Pluralism (for the origins of which see here) and Minhaj-ul-Quran.

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